Carbuncle
INTRODUCTION
We define carbuncle as a cluster of boils under the skin which appear red, swollen, and painful, and they connect under the skin. A boil is specifically an infection involving a hair follicle, and it has pus on it, which is dead neutrophils, phagocytized bacteria, and other cellular components.
As it involves hair follicles, it is most likely to grow in the body’s hairy area. For example, back, nape of the neck, buttocks, thighs, groin, and armpits. These are tender and painful. After we treat it entirely, this type of severe infection leaves a mark.
These boils appear on the body as an indication that the body is fighting against some specific infection. Pus heads show that the immune system is active and fighting against the infection. The other name of a carbuncle is a staph skin infection.
CAUSES
The primary cause of this type of infection is Staphylococcus aureus. A bacteria can enter into hair follicles of the moist areas of the body. Cuts, punctures, and other broken skin areas are the primary sites for this bacterium to enter the body and start this painful infection.
Moist areas are the primary sites for the occurrence of this type of infection. That is why it is on the back of the neck, shoulders, thighs, armpits, or buttocks. It can also occur in any other area where we sweat or feel friction while moving the body or a specific part.
The significant risk factors that play an important in this infection are poor hygiene, diabetes, dermatitis, and shaving and other activities that can break the outer layer of skin.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
As mentioned in the introduction, carbuncles occur under the skin, which eventually becomes tender, painful, puss heads, and red. If we do not treat, the pus heads rupture and release a white fluid after few days.
Some of the common symptoms are:
- Lumps on the skin of about a few centimetres in diameter
- Fatigue
- Fever of around 100.4 F without flu
- Itching
- Discomfort due to pain
- Spreading of the infection to other body parts
- Presence of white or yellow material on infected site
It becomes a severe condition in some cases, which are then needed to be evaluated by a health care professional. The symptoms in these cases are:
- Carbuncles present on face or spine
- Carbuncles present for more than two weeks
- Extra painful lumps
- Relocating or recurrent carbuncles
DIAGNOSIS
Diagnosis is simple for this infection. The health care professional can quickly diagnose by simply looking at the skin. A detailed diagnosis this also made. It determines the bacteria responsible for this infection. For this detailed diagnosis, pus is collected from the infected site and sent to the culture test laboratories.
We made a detailed diagnosis when the site is not healing after the standard treatment of antibiotics. The important thing is to keep track of infections, like for how long they have been recurring. It is important for the correct diagnosis.
TREATMENT
Treatment is different depending upon the condition of carbuncles. If they are small and less painful, then different home remedies are helpful, like applying warm bandages to relieve the pain and increase pus’s natural drainage.
If carbuncles are large and too painful, then health care professionals treat them differently. The first method is incision and drainage of the large carbuncles. It removes the pus from the infected site to promote healing. The second method is proper treatment through antibiotics, depending on the nature of the bacteria.